Finance (No.2) Act 2023

Deposit Return Scheme

61. The Principal Act is amended—

(a) in Part 10, by the insertion of the following Chapter after section 92:

“CHAPTER 4

Deposit Return Scheme

92A. (1) In this Chapter—

‘approved body’ has the same meaning as in the Regulations of 2021;

‘deposit’ shall be construed in accordance with the Regulations of 2021;

‘deposit return scheme’ means a deposit return scheme established pursuant to Regulation 4 of the Regulations of 2021 and references to ‘scheme’ shall be construed accordingly;

‘in-scope bottle’, ‘in-scope container’ and ‘in-scope product’ have the same meaning, respectively, as in the Regulations of 2021;

‘operator’, in relation to the deposit return scheme, means an approved body that is operating the scheme;

‘Regulations of 2021’ means the Separate Collection (Deposit Return Scheme) Regulations 2021 (S.I. No. 599 of 2021);

‘tax due and payable’, means the amount of tax, calculated in accordance with regulations made under section 120(10)(l), that is due and payable in respect of a deposit.

(2) For the purposes of giving effect to Article 92 of the VAT Directive, where—

(a) a supply is made of an in-scope product, and

(b) a deposit is chargeable in accordance with the Regulations of 2021 in relation to the supply referred to in paragraph (a),

then, the taxable amount referable to the deposit shall be deemed to be reduced to nil.

(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2) and for the purposes of giving effect to Article 92 of the VAT Directive, where—

(a) a supply is made of an in-scope product,

(b) a deposit is chargeable in accordance with the Regulations of 2021 in relation to the supply referred to in paragraph (a), and

(c) the in-scope bottle or in-scope container concerned has not been returned in accordance with the Regulations of 2021,

then—

(i) the taxable amount referable to the deposit shall be the amount of that deposit, and

(ii) the operator shall be deemed to be the accountable person in respect of the tax due and payable and shall comply with the provisions of Chapter 3 of Part 9 in relation to that tax.”,

and

(b) in section 120(10)—

(i) in paragraph (k), by the substitution of “operate,” for “operate.”, and

(ii) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (k):

“(l) the accounting for tax due and payable pursuant to section 92A in relation to the deposit return scheme (within the meaning of section 92A), including the method for calculating that tax.”.